Abrading or rubbing article



- Patented Aug. 6, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application March22,

3 Claims.

This invention has to do with an article for abrading purposes, and amethod for making such an article. The invention is concernedparticularly with an article especially adapted for use in wet scouring,sanding, rubbing and similar operations, all of which are generallytermed herein an abrading operation. By the use of the term wet it willbe understood that the abrading operation is to be performed in thepresence of a liquid, such as water, as distinguished from a dryoperation.

Generally, the article comprises a body material of fabric, whichmaterial is preferably capable of absorbing moisture, as for example, afabric of woven cotton or the like. On or in this fabric is disposed abinding or adhesive substance preferably insoluble to water or otherliquid which is to be used in the'wet abrading operation. This binder oradhesive material car- 3 ries an abrasive which may be one or more ofseveral different kinds and of varying screen mesh depending'upon theuse to which the particular article is to be put.

For the purpose of more clearly explaining the invention, one form ofdevice for carrying out the same is described and set forth in fullherein. This form may have a body material of woven fabric, which may becotton, in which the weave is somewhat of open construction, leavingrelatively generously sized interstices between the fabric cords. Thebinder with the abrasive is to be carried by this body material. Thisbinder .advantageously and preferably is composed of a cellulose estersuch as nitrocellulose (pyroxylin), cellulose acetate, and others.Nitrocellulose has been found to be satisfactory, and in the followingdetailed description reference will be made to nitrocellulose, althoughit is to be understood that the invention covers insoluble bindersgenerally, and particularly cellulose esters.

In applying the binder to the body material the nitrocellulose is cutwith one or more suitable solvents. Such solvents are well known tothose versed in the art and include ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, ethylalcohol, methyl alcohol, benzol, ether, etc. It has been found, however,that a commercial lacquer thinner is satisfactory. For example, thenitrocellulose may be wet down with a non-solvent constituent such astoluol and then thinned or cut with any one of the above named solvents,advantageously, butyl acetate, due to the fact it is cheaper than someof the other solvents, and alcohol. This thinner may comprise,- forexample, 60% toluol, butyl 1934, Serial No. 716,767

acetate, and 10% alcohol. The cellulose thus cut is preferably of liquidor semi-liquid form, and a suitable abrasive in divided form is mixedwith or dispersed through the binder. It is thought to be best that themass, containing 5 the binder and abrading material, be of fairly thickconsistency or substantially of a semi-fluid nature, so as to tend tomore or less adhere to the article to which. it is applied in the formof a rather thick coat.

The mix is applied to the body material and preferably adheres theretoin the form of a relatively thick coating and then allowed' to dry. Oneway in which the material may be applied to the body is by dipping thefabric into the mix or 1 by running the same through the mix. Theaccompanying drawing shows, more or less diagrammatically, onemanner ofapplying the nitrocellulose and abrading material mix to the fabricbody, and the drawing-also shows views designed to illustrate the natureof the finished article.

Fig. l is a diagrammatic view of apparatus for making the article.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a drying frame.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged View with part cut away showing the nature of thefinished article.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a face view of an article useful for abrading or scouringpurposes, as above pointed out.

In the drawing, the fabric body is illustrated at I and it may be instrip form wound ina supply roll as at 2. This strip of fabric may bedrawn- ,through a slot 3 and into the nitrocellulose and abradingmaterial mix 4 contained in a tank 5. The strip may be guided by rollers6 and l and under the surface of the material. The tank isperfectlyclosed by a cover 8. The strip may be directed upwardly and may bepassed between scraping dies 9 and I0, and one of these scrapers may bespring-pressed by means of a spring ll. Preferably the scraping actionis light so as to remove excess mix but allowing a considerablethickness of coating to remain upon the fabric. The coated fabric may bedrawn out of the tank through 'slot l2, passed over a support or rollerl3, and. directed over a work table It. Aframe l5 may be laid upon thetable and the. frame may be provided with a multiplicity of upstandingpins IS. The strip with the wet coating material may be fastened to thisframe by pushing the same over the pins so that it is held taut. Thematerial may now be severed substantially at the point A and the framewith its length of material stretchedthereon hung up to dry, for whichpurpose the frame may have a supporting device II. The drying processmay be done in the open atmosphere, or, if desired, may be acceleratedwith the use of any suitable drying apparatus. This structure shown inFig. 1 merely exemplifies one way of treating the fabric, although thearticle may be made by improved and more automatic apparatus.

One type of fabric is illustrated, in the cutaway portion of Fig. 3,wherein the fabric is shown'of open construction, and as shown, has acoating 20 applied thereto, this coating also appearing in Fig. 4. Wherea fabric of such open work structure is provided the coating may notcompletely fill all the interstices, as illustrated. For some scouring,rubbing or abrading purposes, units such as illustrated in Fig. 5 may becut from the pieces when dry. The frames I5 may be of any desired lengthso that the number of units may be cut therefrom; and advantageously,the original strip has selvage edges so that the articles will not ravelat least on two edges. However, the edges of the strip of fabric may beotherwise provided to prevent raveling.

It is to be appreciated, of course, that any suitable abrading materialmay be employed with varying degrees of coarseness or fineness to fitthe particular use to which it is to be put. Pumice, carborundum, sand,or other abrasive materials maybe used. For coarse work. coarserabrasive may be used and for fine work finer abrasive may be used. Theweave of the fabric may be of relatively fine Weave for fine work and ofrelatively coarse weave for rough or coarse work. In many industriesmetal articles are sanded or rubbed with sandpaper or the like in thepresence of water or other liquid, this,being the so called wet processas mentioned above. Articles made in accordance with this invention maybe used in place of sandpaper for these purposes.

In order to further exemplify the invention, it may be stated thatarticles have been made having a cellulosic binder employing pumice asvthe abrading material, the same being depositedupon an underlying fabricbody and appearing much as illustrated in Fig. 3.- When the coating isdry the finished product is quite stiff or rigid, although not brittle.When the finished product, however, is subjected to water the samebecomes quite flexible and can be used withor Without soap for thesecuring or scrubbing of p ots, pans, wash bowls, sinks, and otherhousehold uses, as well as for commercial uses. The non-soluble binder,namely, the cellulosic material, remains attached to the fabric, and itappears that the scrubbing or wiping action frees the abrasive. It alsoappears that the softening of the product by being wetted with Water iscaused by reason of the Water penetrating through the coating andwetting the underlying fabric. fabric in a waterproof manner since thecoating The coating does not seal the through which water or otherliquid may pass to I wet the fabric, whatever be the cause of theporosity, non-uniformness or non-waterproof nature of the coating. Afteruse the article may be allowed to dry and can be used over and over anumber of times.

I claim:

1. An abrading article for wet rubbing operations comprising, a fabricbase and a dry coating on the base comprising a body of cellulose esterwith divided abrading material dispersed through the cellulose ester,said cellulose ester serving as a vehicle for the abrading material andserving as an adhesive for holding the coating to the fabric base, saidcoating substantially uniformly covering the fabric base and being ofimperfect continuity, whereby water or other fluid may pass through thecoating and wet the fabric and render the article flexible for rubbingoperations,

said cellulose ester adapted to free the abrading material incident torubbing action.

2. An abrading article for wet rubbing operations comprising, a wovencloth base with relatively large interstices, and a dry coating on thebase comprising a body of cellulose ester with divided abrading materialdispersed through the cellulose ester, said cellulose ester serving as avehicle for the abrading material and serving as an adhesivefor'ho-lding the coating to the fabric base, said coating substantiallyuniformly covering the fabric and filling into the interstices, saidcoating being of imperfect continuity, whereby water or other fluid maypass through the coating and wet the base and render the articleflexible for rubbing operations, said cellulose ester adapted to freethe abrading material incident to rubbing action.

3. An abrading article for wet rubbing operations comprising, a fabricbase and a dry coating on the base comprising, a body of nitrocellulosewith divided abrading material dispersed through the nitrocellulose,said nitrocellulose serving as a vehicle for the abrading material andserving as an adhesive for holding the coating to the fabric base, saidcoating substantially uniformly covering the fabric base and being ofimperfect continuity, whereby water or other fluid may pass through thecoating and wet the fabric and render the article flexible for rubbingoperations,

;said nitrocellulose body being adapted to free the abrading materialincident to rubbing action.

' ARTHUR E. STANLEY.

